


For the Rest of Our Lives

by fairytalelights



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kid Fic, Well almost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 12:37:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2773268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytalelights/pseuds/fairytalelights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We're gonna be awesome, Barney. For the rest of our lives.” (AU after 9x22, because that finale never happened.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Rest of Our Lives

“We did it. We really got married,” he whispers in her ear later that night, after all the guests have left and they went to their room and had epic wedding night sex, even though they were both exhausted.

“Yes. Who would've thought that we would actually make it to this day,” she replies, laughing quietly against his chest.

“Me,” he answers without hesitation. “From the minute you said yes, I knew that whatever might come next, we would make it.”

“Well, how could you be so sure?” It's not that she has had many doubts, but... it was them, Robin and Barney. They had always managed to screw up before. Why would this time be different?

“Because you said yes, Robin. Because you told me you loved me and I believed you. Because I told you I loved you and I meant it with all my heart. How could we have not made it?”

She kisses him again at that, because it's ridiculous how sappy he could get sometimes and she doesn't want him to see that her eyes had actually gotten a bit wet.

“We're gonna be awesome, Barney. For the rest of our lives.” “I think you mean legendary.” “Oh come on, don't you think you use that word way too often? Save it for the big moments.” “Every day with you is gonna be a big moment.” “Okay, now you're just getting ridiculous.”

 

***

 

It's suprisingly easy. Robin continues to work and Barney supports her, even though she works crazy hours sometimes and comes home exhausted and snappy and doesn't want to go out, just lie in bed for a week (and not get up at six a.m. again the next day). Sometimes Barney is tired from work too, so they snap at each other, until they run out of arguments that don't make sense and have sex instead to let off their frustration.

But sometimes Barney has a good day when she has a bad one, and then he makes her pancakes and listens to her stories about work (how everyone is so awful and annoying sometimes and she doesn't know why she even puts up with that) and after she looses the energy to be mad, he distracts her with his touches and lets her come apart.

In these moments Robin wonders if she was ever this happy. She can't think of a time when she was.

 

***

 

“Remember when Barney and I were fighting with you guys about who the better couple was, and obviously you won, because no one can ever be as perfect as you two?” she asks Lily one day, who balances Daisy on her hip and smiles at her daughter babbling nonsense.

“Yes?”

“Well, you might always be the better couple, because you're Lily and Marshall and no one can ever compete with that, but I think I'm getting pretty damn close to perfection, too,” Robin tells her and she can't help the smile that comes across her face at the words, because she just has to tell the world how happy she is, she can't keep an emotion that strong to herself.

Lily starts smiling too. “Oh sweetie, don't you think I know already? Everyone can see how happy you are. I would ask “where's the poop” because history tells me that it can't be that good all the time, but I see every day that it can. I'm so glad that you're happy, Robin.”

 

Sometimes even Robin thinks it's too good to last, but she can't bring herself to be afraid of the future. Her feelings are still the same, and she knows Barney's are too, because he once promised her to be honest to her for the rest of their lives, and he still tells her he loves her all the time.

Robin starts to believe that fairytales are true.

 

***

 

Barney has a car accident once. It isn't nearly as bad as his bus accident, but his life is in danger for a few hours on the operating table, and they are the worst hours of Robin's life.

She sits there, staring at the waiting room wall for the whole five hours he is in surgery, and the only thing she can think of, is _If I lose him, I'm never gonna be happy again_.

The only thing she can feel is Lily's hand on her shoulder that's constantly reminding her that she is still here and that he's not gone yet.

When he finally gets out of surgery and the doctors tell her that he's gonna be okay, she spends an hour crying by his bedside. She doesn't tell him about it when he wakes up, but she thinks he can tell anyway, because he plants kisses all over her face, where the tears have dried.

 

(Marshall rips the piece of paper, that he and Lily placed their bet on years ago, apart that night, because he knows that the only way Ted and Robin are ever gonna end up together is if something terrible happens to Barney or Tracy, and he can't wish for that.)

 

***

 

Sometimes Robin sees how Barney looks at Ted's kids or Lily and Marshall's wih that look of amazement in his eyes that only little kids can bring out in him. He's amazing with all the kids – part of her thinks that's because he never grew up that much himself – and she can't help but feel awful that she's the reason he can't have this.

“You know we could adopt if you wanted to,” she says to him one night and she chokes on the words, because it's hard to say them.

But he shakes his head. “Robin, you don't want kids. You never have. If you change your mind one day and you really want to be a mom, then I would love nothing more than to adopt a child – hell, even five – with you. But you're doing this, because you think that you aren't enough for me and that's an awful reason to want to have children and it would probably be the end of our marriage. Besides - I'm happy. _You_ make me happy. You're enough, Robin, you will always be enough.”

She doesn't know what good she did in her life to deserve him, but for a minute she's so thankful that she can't breathe.

 

***

 

It's like she told Lily - they are close to perfection, but it's Robin's definition of perfect.

That doesn't mean they don't fight. Sometimes they fight over stuff that's unnecessary and has no solution, like his past or her job. Sometimes they fight over little things, like the dishes or how to wash his suits.

But the difference to when they did this last time is simple: They don't avoid the fights anymore, because they are scared it will tear them apart. They both fight to make their point, but they also both fight to make up again everytime. No matter what they argue about, at the end of the day they lie next to each other in bed (because neither of them has slept alone on the couch once and Robin wants to travel to her past self and tell her that). Sometimes they have sex and sometimes they don't, but one of them always whispers an apology in their kiss and the other one kisses back harder in return.

 

***

 

When her period is late for the first time in forever, Robin doesn't think much of it, because these things happen when you have too much stress. But then she goes to the doctor, because she starts feeling sick and the doctor just straight up laughs at her and makes an ultrasound.

Robin's first reaction is to scream and fight, like the first time she thought she was pregnant, but wasn't, because this can't be happening, she doesn't want a baby.

For a moment she sees her perfect life go away.

But a lot of things are different this time and Robin can't help thinking _It's a miracle, this baby is a miracle_.

She thinks of abortion without telling Barney, because she could never live with the look on his face if she told him.

The first few weeks of her pregnany pass by and Robin doesn't tell anyone, doesn't make a decision, she just stops drinking alcohol, but no one notices anyway, because their bar days are over.

They mostly hang out at Lily and Marshall's or Ted's place nowadays, which are always loud and filled with children running around. Robin lets go of her _I hate babies_ side for a moment and starts to imagine a girl with Barney's eyes and her hair for a moment, or a little boy, enthusiastic like him, but stubborn like her. And for a moment she wants it so bad that she puts a hand on her stomach to protect the child from any harm.

Her doctor tells her that she has to be careful, because her uterus is still “hostile” and there's a big chance of miscarriage, but these words suddenly sound scary to Robin.

She tells Barney and his face is a mixture between joy and fear and he answers, honest and wide-eyed, “Robin, you don't have to keep it, if you don't want to. It's your choice.” She knows what that sentence must have cost him and she doesn't think that she can love him any more than she does in that moment. “No,” she answers. “No, I want this. I didn't know before, but I think I do. Is that okay? Are you mad that I didn't want to sooner?”

Barney laughs at that, looking happier than she's ever seen him. “Am I mad? What? Robin, even if you wanted children when you were forty, and even if you never did, you know that I would always, always be happy. I will always be happy as long as I have you, Robin.”

 

***

 

She hates being pregnant and she hates not being able to work for the last months, but Barney promises her that this isn't a choice between a child and her career and that she can work again as soon as the child is born. (She does and she manages quite well, she thinks. She's surprised that the work-aspect of her life is making her as happy as the having-a-family-aspect and this feeling of completeness makes her want to go on every talk show in the country and tell them that you can have a career and be a good mother at the same time, at least when you have a husband as amazing as Barney.)

 

Vivian Lily Stinson is born on November 22, 2018. She has her father's eyes and hair (as Barney tells everyone while showing her off proudly), but later on her face looks like Robin's and everyone can always tell who her parents are.

Robin calls her “miracle child” a few times, not only because she thought she could never have children, but also because she never imagined to love a child as much as she loves her daughter.

“You've really become a mom,” Lily says once and she sounds surprised. “I didn't think that was you, I always thought you wouldn't be happy as a mother, but here you are, happier than I ever saw you. Who would've thought.”

Robin thinks it's because she's changed into the kind of person that learned to love multiple things at the same time. She thought it was family or career, but she loves all the things in her life with passion and she loves Barney for not holding her back from it. Robin still doesn't like babies very much, but she loves her daughter with all her heart.

 

She thinks it would've been different if she married Kevin or Ted, who would've made her feel guilty for denying them children and maybe she would still have gotten pregnant one day. She doesn't think she would've been able to be a mother as loving as she is now in that scenario, because Vivian wasn't an unwanted child. When she was born Robin was ready. She thinks no one should have children they don't want.

 

***

They never have another child, because Robin doesn't want to. (She doesn't even know if she could have another child. Her uterus is a tricky thing.)

Vivian is her little miracle, but Robin isn't a mom like Tracy, who bakes every weekend or likes to organize birthday parties. (That's why Tracy organises all of Vivi's birthday parties. Barney tries to bake cookies for Vivi's kindergarten class, because Robin's always burn anyway, but Barney's taste awful, so Tracy does that sometimes, too.)

 

***

 

They are doing a lot of family vacations now, but when Vivi is at the hotel's kid's club, Robin and Barney drive out to the sea and watch the waves.

“I've never been so happy in my life,” Robin tells him.

“You say that way too often, it's almost as overused as legendary by now,” Barney replies laughing.

“That's because it's always true. It just grows with each day. In fifty years, I will still say the same,” Robin smiles. (Normally it's Barney who says cheesy things like this, but Robin thinks now and then she can throw in some kitsch, too.)

Barney just silently grabs her hand and smiles. She knows that he believes her without a doubt.

 

**Author's Note:**

> About Robin and Barney having a child in this story: I know that Robin never wanted to have kids and I tried to bring that across in this story. I also don't think that you need kids to be happy, I hope that also came across. I'm sure Robin and Barney would have lived happily ever after without ever having a child, but in this story they get one, because I just love the idea of them having a baby. The Robin in my story just grew into the idea of becoming a mother and I thought that was a natural progression for her.
> 
> Merry Christmas, Dana, this story is for you.
> 
> (I'm here on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/fairytalelights) and on [Tumblr](https://lookslikefairytale.tumblr.com), if you wanna say hi.)


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